For the Lummi Nation girls and boys basketball teams, it just seemed destined. But for the Squalicum girls, there was no storybook ending — just an ending.
Lummi Nation’s teams moved into their respective Class 1B District 1/2/3 championship games with impressive victories Thursday night, Feb. 20.
The Lady Blackhawks tipped things off with a 58-47 win over Crosspoint Christian in their tri-district semifinal. Then in the later game at Mount Vernon Christian, the Blackhawk boys took down Summit Classical Christian, 68-42, in their semifinal.
The Lummi teams now take on Neah Bay’s boys and girls in finals matchups that pit the two top seeds in the tri-district tournaments and four of the best 1B teams on the west side of the state. It was a collision course destined all season long.
Meanwhile, the Squalicum girls couldn’t pull off the upset and saw their dream of a state berth come up short with a 50-31 loss to Burlington-Edison in the Class 2A District 1 consolation bracket at Mount Vernon High School.
The Storm end their season with a 13-10 record.
CLASS 2A GIRLS
Squalicum Girls Come Up Short Against Tigers, 50-31
Youth was not served Thursday night.
The sophomore-dominated Storm will have to wait at least another year before making it to state for the first time since 2010 as the experienced Burlington-Edison Tigers pulled away in the fourth quarter to win the loser-out contest.
“I reminded them that we hadn’t been this far in 14 years … when most of them were just 2 years old,” Squalicum coach Jenalyn Brown said of her post-game speech. “They have a lot to be proud of.”
On Thursday, the youngsters battled hard especially on defense, holding the explosive Tigers to only 18 first-half points and 10 points below their game average.
And even on a cold shooting night — Squalicum only made one 3-pointer — the Storm was still within six with six minutes left in the game. But while Burlington was parading to the foul line — the Tigers made eight of 10 free throws in the fourth quarter — Squalicum only scored three more points the rest of the way.
“They played hard but were up against a really good, experienced team,” said Brown of the fifth-ranked Tigers (21-4). “We contained them for three quarters.”
Unfortunately, that containment came at a cost. Sophomore point guard Lexi Robbins and senior post Loretta Murphy-Kangas were hampered by foul trouble and with sophomore Addison Kettman, the team’s main inside scoring threat, out with an injury, the Storm needed to hit their outside shots. Thursday night, they weren’t dropping.
Freshman Kai Perez used her athleticism to drive inside for 11 points and made the team’s only 3, and sophomores Tiana Thompson and Carli Kiesau had 6 points each. But Burlington countered by making four 3-pointers and 19 of 28 free throws, while Squalicum only had 10 free throws, making six.
In the end, it was the end for the Storm’s season and the end of a four-year varsity career for the team’s only senior, Murphy-Kangas. And although admittedly sad, she was still smiling afterward thinking of her young teammates.
“I love them,” she said. “We’ve come such a long ways. We made history and I’m so happy with how far we made it. We battled, and I’m proud of them.”
Brown called her senior leader “awesome” and said the sadness in the locker room was not from losing the game but from losing Murphy-Kangas as a teammate.
But the Squalicum coach saw the bigger picture and the future looks bright for the Storm, who have nine sophomore on their roster.
“Everyone’s really excited about the future,” she said. “I was thinking (during the game), ‘Why couldn’t our shots go in?’ But they were nervous playing a team that’s been to state. They’ve never been this far. Next year, people will be afraid of us.”
With the win, Burlington-Edison (21-4) advances to the consolation final on Saturday against Archbishop Murphy in a rematch of last Friday’s semifinal, which the Wildcats won, 54-39. The winner of Saturday’s game will join district champion Lynden in the state regionals; the loser will have its season come to an end.
Burlington-Edison 50, Squalicum 31
Squalicum 7 7 10 7—31
Burlington-Edison 8 10 16 16—50
Squalicum: Murphy-Kangas 5, Singh-Sanchez, Paz, Perez 11, Thompson 6, Kiesau 6, Robbins 3, Harper.
Burlington-Edison: Ray 7, Holmes 14, Bishop 11, K. Smith, Atkins 11, Weynands 7, Howe, Vanderpol.
CLASS 2A GIRLS DISTRICT 1 TOURNAMENT
Monday, Feb. 10
Play-in game
#8 Bellingham 54, #9 Marysville-Pilchuck 20 (loser out)
Wednesday, Feb. 12
Quarterfinals
#1 Lynden 71, Bellingham (6-13) 8
#2 Archbishop Murphy 55, #7 Sehome 27
#3 Burlington-Edison 68, #6 Lakewood 40
#4 Squalicum 38, #5 Anacortes 35
Friday, Feb. 14
Consolation games
Anacortes 46, Bellingham 23 (loser out)
Lakewood 49, Sehome 43 (loser out)
Semifinals
At Mount Vernon
Archbishop Murphy 54, Burlington-Edison 39
Lynden 61, Squalicum 27
Monday, Feb. 17
Consolation games
At Mount Vernon
Squalicum 58, Lakewood 27 (loser out)
Burlington-Edison 58, Anacortes 28 (loser out)
Wednesday, Feb. 19
At Mount Vernon
Championship game
Lynden 52, Archbishop Murphy 36 (winner first, to state regionals)
Thursday, Feb. 20
At Mount Vernon
Consolation game
Burlington-Edison 50, Squalicum 31 (loser out)
Saturday, Feb. 22
At Mount Vernon
Consolation final
Archbishop Murphy (21-2) Burlington-Edison (21-4), 5:15 p.m. (winner second, to state regionals, loser out)
CLASS 1B BOYS
Lummi Nation Shoots Down Archers In Semis, 68-42
The Blackhawks did their part in setting up the much-anticipated finals matchup with Neah Bay by soundly beating Summit Classical Christian in their semifinal.
And lest you think the Archers were a pushover, they came into the game ranked ninth in the state having won 20 of their last 21 games, scoring over 70 points 14 times and over 90 points three times, and with a sparkling 21-3 record. Make that 21-4 after facing the Blackhawks’ defense.
Lummi Nation, itself on an eight-game winning streak, limited Summit to 23 points in the first three quarters as the eighth-ranked Blackhawks improved their own impressive record to 21-3.
“The boys stepped up their defense tonight against a really good Summit Classical Christian team,” said Lummi Nation coach Jerome Toby Sr. “I liked our energy and the effort we brought tonight.”
While stifling Summit’s offense and allowing only three Archers to score, Lummi Nation was putting up big numbers with its own deep offense. Lummi took command with a 20-point first quarter and was up by 31 heading into the fourth quarter when the reserves got their opportunities.
All nine Blackhawks put up points with Jerome Toby Jr. leading the way with 18 points and two of Lummi Nation’s four 3-pointers. The junior point guard also had 6 rebounds, 6 steals, and 6 assists.
Sophomore Deandre James dominated inside with 15 points and 6 rebounds and sophomore Dyson Edwards had 12 points. James and Edwards also had six points each in the Blackhawks’ first-quarter blitz.
Senior Trevon Lee added 6 points and 7 rebounds for the Blackhawks, and senior Karson Revey and sophomore Landon LaFontaine had 5 points each.
Lummi Nation will now get a chance to claim a district championship and a tri-district championship for the second straight year and go for a third straight tri-district title. But it won’t come easy.
Neah Bay is ranked at No. 3 after the Red Devils (18-3) shocked No. 4 Tulalip Heritage, 83-57, in the other semifinal. Tulalip’s only losses before Thursday were to Lummi Nation, and the Hawks beat Lummi earlier this season.
“We will be in for a tough matchup on Saturday,” said coach Toby.
Lummi Nation 68, Summit Classical Christian 42
Summit Classical Christian 11 6 6 19—42
Lummi Nation 20 16 18 14—68
Summit Classical Christian: Cornell, L. Forrest, H. Gledhill, Simon 14, J. Gledhill 17, Hodo 11, Brady.
Lummi Nation: Toby 18, LaFontaine 5, Edwards 12, Abrams 3, Bob 2, Hawk 2, Lee 6, Revey 5, James 15.
CLASS 1B BOYS DISTRICT 1/2/3 TOURNAMENT
Thursday, Feb. 20
Consolation round
Sound Christian Academy 56, Providence Classical Christian 45 (loser out)
Semifinals
Neah Bay 83, Tulalip Heritage 57
Lummi Nation 68, Summit Classical Christian 42
Friday, Feb. 21
Consolation round
Evergreen Lutheran (14-7) vs. Muckleshoot Tribal (16-5) (loser out)
Saturday, Feb. 22
At Muckleshoot Community Center
Consolation games
Sound Christian Academy (19-5) vs. Evergreen Lutheran-Muckleshoot Tribal (winner fifth, loser sixth, both to state regionals)
Tulalip Heritage (19-3) vs. Summit Classical Christian (21-4), 3 p.m. (winner third, loser fourth, both to state regionals)
Championship game
Lummi Nation (21-3) vs. Neah Bay (18-3), 6:45 p.m. (winner first, loser second, both to state regionals)
CLASS 1B GIRLS
Lummi Nation Tames Crosspoint Christian, 58-47
Six weeks ago, the Lady Blackhawks barely held on to beat the scrappy Wildcats by three points in a holiday tournament. But this time, Lummi Nation was ready.
With sophomore Jemma James scoring 13 points in the Blackhawks’ 20-point second quarter, Lummi Nation went into the break leading by 12 and made that stand up to win the tri-district semifinal.
“The Lady Blackhawks showed up ready to play tonight and came out with the intensity from the start to earn themselves a hard-fought win against a scrappy Crosspoint Christian team,” said Lummi Nation coach David James, whose fifth-ranked squad improved to 22-3.
James would finish with a team-high 21 points and hit four of Lummi Nation’s eight 3-pointers, three of them in the big second quarter.
She got a lot of help from junior Ailina Rabang, who had 17 points and two 3-pointers, and junior Bri Metteba, who had 16 points and a pair of 3s.
The 12th-ranked Wildcats from Bremerton actually outscored the Blackhawks in the second half but couldn’t make up any ground and fell to 16-7.
Although Saturday’s game was a challenge, the Lady Blackhawks know Saturday’s will be the biggest challenge. Neah Bay is the two-time defending state champion and is again ranked No. 1. The Red Devils beat Muckleshoot Tribal in their semifinal Thursday, 66-36.
“We know Saturday is going to be a tough game against Neah Bay,” said coach James, “but the girls are ready.”
Lummi Nation 58, Crosspoint Christian 47
Crosspoint Christian 12 9 12 14—47
Lummi Nation 13 20 14 11—58
Crosspoint Christian: Fraser 5, a. Kuske 25, Parker 3, Wasson 9, Crollard, K. Kuske 5.
Lummi Nation: J. James 21, Rabang 17, B. Metteba 16, Jones, Mack 2, Dennis, Williams, M. Metteba, C. James 2.
CLASS 1B GIRLS TRI-DISTRICT 1/2/3 TOURNAMENT
Thursday, Feb. 20
Consolation round
Evergreen Lutheran 39, Concrete 29 (loser out)
Semifinals
Lummi Nation 58, Crosspoint Christian 47
Neah Bay 66, Muckleshoot Tribal 36
Friday, Feb. 21
Consolation round
Summit Classical Christian (11-8) vs. Sound Christian Academy (13-7), 5:30 p.m. (loser out)
Saturday, Feb. 22
At Muckleshoot Community Center
Consolation games
Evergreen Lutheran (12-8) vs. Summit Classical Christian-Sound Christian Academy winner, 11:30 a.m. (winner fifth, loser sixth, both to state regionals)
Crosspoint Christian (16-7) vs. Muckleshoot Tribal (13-7), 1:15 p.m. (winner third, loser fourth, both to state regionals)
Championship game
Lummi Nation (22-3) vs. Neah Bay (19-1), 5 p.m. (winner first, loser second, both to state regionals)
